The Butterfly Song
by Claurette
Summary: When the group moves into an old motel, forgotten memories are uncovered. And ghosts of the past haunt the present.


_Hello everyone! This is my first fanfiction. It is the beginning of a multi chapter story. I hope you enjoy it!_

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She could hear leaves crunching and twigs snapping behind her. The sound was unmistakeable: footsteps.

_Another one._

_She had no way of protecting herself. No gun. No weapon of any sort. Not even a knife._

_She'd never killed one of them before. Not yet, at least. She hoped she'd never have to. The only thing she could ever think of doing when she saw one of those things was clinging tight to her mama and closing her eyes so she didn't have to look at their rotting faces._

_But her mama wasn't here right now. So Sophia ran._

_She duck under branches, dodged trees, and leaped over roots. She climbed up a sloping hill and away for the dead man._

_By the time she reached the top of the hill, she was completely out of breath. Her throat ached and her knees were rubbery. Her bare arms were covered in cuts and bruises. Fresh blood leaked out of a particularly deep cut. Pain radiated through her body. She struggled to fight the tears that threatened at her eyes as she stared at the gash._

_She tilted her head upwards to try and distract herself from the wound. _

_A pale orange cascaded over deep purple shadows. The sun was beginning to drift behind the dark horizon, which made it hard for Sophia to see._

_She hated being alone in the dark. Mostly feared it. She always used to sleep with a nightlight. Sometimes, she'd have her mama check under the bed for monsters. It seemed ironic, to Sophia, now that the monsters really did exist and they weren't just in her imagination. And she was all alone, in the woods, near nightfall with the monsters. _

_How would she survive this? Would she ever see her mom again? Would she go hungry out here? Or would the monsters get to her first?_

_She had never been lost before. She'd always stuck close to her mama. She knew she was safe with her. But now, she knew she wasn't safe. The woods were a dangerous place, even before the dead started walking around. That's what her mom had always said. She taught Sophia to be afraid. That fear could save her life._

_But, Sophia knew fear couldn't save her now. _

_As she watched the sunset, Sophia thought of all the terrible things that could happen to her. The worst conclusion she'd come to was if she turned into one of them. What if she came and killed her mama, and Carl and the rest of the group? She knew she wouldn't be able to stop herself if she did. She knew how they were. What they were. That had no control. No restraints. They were the danger. And she was their prey. So vulnerable and small, she didn't stand a chance against them. At least not like this. _

_But she had to try. Had to try to survive and find her way back to her mama where it was safe. _

_Her daddy's words echoed in her head: "You better wipe that stupid look off your face. They can smell your fear."_

_Was it true? Could they really smell fear? Sophia knew they'd find her if they could smell fear. If what her dad said was true. _

_A sound behind her pulled her from her thoughts. A moan._

_Sophia didn't exactly know why she did it at the time, but, she turned around. She stared right at its rotting face and cloudy eyes. Its blood smeared hospital smocks dribbling patch of crimson on its shoulder where, she assumed, it had been bitten. The creature had long, dark strands of hair draped across its shoulders and dangled just above its waist. It used to be a young woman. Maybe twenty years old. But when it peeled back its thin leathery lips to reveal black, rotting teeth, she could no longer see the life inside of it. All she could see was death. She was the dead woman's prey._

_Sophia wanted to scream. She knew that would probably draw more to her. So she clamped her mouth shut, and ran. _

_She dashed across the flat terrain at the top of the hill until she reached a downward slope. She tripped, nearly falling down the hill, but she managed to catch herself before she fell._

_She spun around to see the dead woman limping after her. It snarled at her, rasping for breath as it chased her. Sophia's heart drummed against her chest her chest as she watched it get closer and closer. She was so busy watching the dead woman approach her, that she didn't hear the footsteps behind her. She didn't see the dead man that climbed up the hill until it was too late. Until the dead man had lain both its decaying hands on her shoulders. Until she felt its putrid breath on the nape her neck._

"_Mama!" she cried as she stared into the dead man's foggy eyes._

_She couldn't run. It was too late for that. So she stayed, frozen in place, until she felt a sharp pain in her shoulder. Tears streamed down her face as she felt another harsh stab of pain in her arm. This time, it was the dead woman that had bitten her._

_And then there were more. They came out of the shadows and out from behind trees. Each one of them limped over to Sophia. Hunger in their dead eyes as they reached her._

_Soon, they were all feasting on her flesh. There was blood everywhere._

_Sophia's eyelids began to flutter. Everything seemed to be spinning. She let her doll slip from her hand. It hit dry forest floor with an inaudible thud. _

_She could not feel the pain anymore as she fell to the ground, mauled by the dead._

Carol screamed.

Her face was covered in a blanket of sweat. She was breathing heavily, her heart hammering against her chest.

She sat up slowly, carefully.

A cold breeze drifted in through the open window beside her bed. She shivered.

Once her eyes had adjusted to the darkness surrounding her, she reached for lamp on the bedpost. She felt around for the switch until she heard a click. The lamp generated a dim glow that cast the strange shadows of trees on the walls.

It took a moment for Carol to realize that she had been dreaming, again. The nightmares seemed to get worse every night. Every detail, every sound, every _emotion _got stronger. They were trapped in her memory replaying like a broken record. They were so clear it was almost as if they had just recently happened. She hated that. She hated remembering the day Sophia died, so she tried not to.

But, that didn't always work. Some days she just couldn't help but remember her little girl. But with the rare, happier memories of Sophia, came the tragic and sorrowful ones. The ones of her becoming a walker and ambled out of Hershel's barn. Her eyes lost the sparkle in them. That glint of happiness that, even in the darkest times, always kept Carol going.

Of course, she knew, her broken heart would never completely heal. There'd always be that emptiness inside her. That place in her heart that Sophia occupied. She was the most important thing in the world to her.

Carol knew it wasn't good to sit around sulking. It wasn't healthy, either. But, some days, she just couldn't help it. It was like there was always something there that reminded her of Sophia. Like a Memento Mori but far worse.

A pungent gust of wind shook the window shutters. Carol was jerked away from her thoughts and startled by the sudden eruption of wind.

She quickly swung her legs to one side of the small bed. She set both her feet on the cold wooden floor. She took a moment to look around the room. Make sure she could see everything lucidly before she stood up. An instinct she'd developed, just like always making sure there were no walkers in the room before roaming around.

Carol quickly got off the bed, not wanting to listen to the juddering shutters. She promptly strode over to the open window.

The sun hadn't risen, yet, leaving the outdoor spread dark and seemingly empty. She stared out among the land, intuitively searching for walkers. But, there was nothing. No walkers. No animals. Nothing.

That wasn't odd. They had gone almost untouched when they moved into the motel. Walkers didn't seem to come around very often. There was the odd one here and there. But no herds. Not anymore.

Carol grasped both of the window shutters, pulling them in towards her slowly. She brought them in and clutched the latch in once it was close enough to reach. She gently bolted the latch, careful not to make too much noise. She didn't want to wake anyone, if they hadn't already been awakened by her scream.

The window was shut tightly, the only sound being the howling wind, twisting and weaving itself through the tree branches.

Carol took one long look through the closed window, before crawling back into bed.

She pulled the sheets up to her chin and rolled on her side facing the door. Her eyes were heavy and eased shut as she let her mind drift.

It wasn't long, or it didn't _seem_ long before she was pulled, once again, from her light slumber, this time by loud wails, echoing of the walls.

_Judith._

Carol sighed and got out of the bed.

By the time she had made her way to Judith's room, the wails had stopped. The door to her room was wide open. The light was on and her crib was empty.

Carol shifted her gaze to the set of mattresses on the other end of the room. There sat Beth on looking calmly down at the bundle in her arms.

Carol smiled to herself as she approached the bed. Beth was always the one who tended to Judith the. She had developed such an attachment to the infant, and always seemed to be more than happy to look after her.

Beth looked up. She smiled once she saw Carol.

"She must have been having a nightmare," Beth said.

Carol smiled. Judith wasn't the only one.

"Everything okay?" a voice at the far end of the room asked.

Carol and Beth turned to see Daryl standing in the doorway, gripping his crossbow in one hand. He was dressed in his usual hunting clothes; the only thing eliminated was his belt.

"Judy woke up," Beth said with a smile.

Daryl nodded. He tilted his head downward and kicked at the old, matted carpet.

Carol sat down beside Beth. She began gently stroking Judith's cheek with her soft hand.

Judith gazed up at Carol, making quiet cooing sounds. Carol smiled down at the baby. She reminded her of Sophia, in so many ways.

"I sung her a lullaby last night," Beth stated softly. "She seemed to like it."

"You should try it again," Carol suggested.

Beth smiled timidly for a before she started singing:

"_Well I'm just a lonely traveller_

_And I don't know where I'm bound_

_Though, that I keep on moving_

_Then I know that I'll be found."_

The lull of Beth's sweet voice seemed to have quite an effect on Judith; she appeared to enjoy it.

"_I'll climb high atop the mountain_

_Call for he who holds the crown_

_But until that day, keep on wanderin'."_

Daryl looked up from the floor. He listened to the harmonious ring to Beth's voice. He gaze was focused on Lil' Asskicker, who lay still in the girl's arms.

"_Well now, when a soul wanders_

_There are things a man must see_

_There are trials he must know_

_And there are troubles he must meet."_

Daryl heard footfalls behind him. He turned around to meet Rick's gaze.

"_He must stare in the eyes of evil_

_And know that he is free_

'_Til the good lord calls_

_Keep on wanderin'."_

Rick nodded at Daryl and carefully approached Beth. Daryl paused for a moment before following him.

"_Now my father was a traveller_

_And my mama stayed at home_

_And she cried the day that he walked out_

_And left us on our own."_

Beth stopped singing and looked up at Rick, who was grinning down at the bundle in her arms.

"She's asleep," Beth whispered with a smile.

"Good job," Rick murmured.

He deliberately sat down on the other side of Beth.

Judith stirred in her sleep, tilting her head to one side, her eyes closing tighter.

Daryl watched the infant for a moment before sluggishly taking a seat beside Carol, who smiled sweetly at him.

The four of them stayed there for a while, watching Judith sleep. It was still dark when Beth laid Judith to rest in her crib. Still dark when Rick decided to go on watch and when Carol _finally _got to sleep.

Beth had said that she'd stay in Judy's room with her tonight. She seemed to find joy out of spending so much time with the infant.

Daryl was the last one to leave Judy's room. He wasn't tired. Hadn't been in the past couple of days. He preferred to stay awake as much as he could. He didn't exactly know why. It was an old habit he'd developed as a little boy. He'd always stay up and listen to his mama and daddy fighting. It wasn't something he enjoyed. It was something he _feared _it rather than _despised _it.

He had gotten that from Merle. Daryl knew he was scared of their daddy. Merle always denied it, though. Just brushed it off like it was nothing. But Daryl knew his brother _was_ afraid, no matter what he said.

That just made Daryl more scared. More scared of his daddy and what he would do next. Merle was tough. Probably the hardest person Daryl had ever met. So he knew when Merle was afraid, there was sure as hell something to be afraid of.

He made his way through the darkness of the hallway. The motel reminded him of the one the he and Merle had stayed in after the fire. Their daddy was supposed to be there, but instead, he just dropped them off and left them til' morning came.

Those were horrible memories. So bitter and painful, that Daryl hated remembering them.

As he walked by the empty room – the room that no one had taken up – he noticed something that yanked him from his thoughts.

He stared into the dark room. He was startled by what he saw: standing at the far end of the room, between both the beds, Daryl could make out a figure. A _human _figure.

When he got a little closer, he realised it was a child – a little girl.

Daryl hesitated. He'd hated taking down kid walkers after Sophia. It made him feel guilty. _Guilt. _That was an emotion he hadn't felt since he was just a little kid. Merle always told him feeling guilty for something he'd done was a pansy ass thing. It was stupid, he told him. And there was no way of undoing what you done so why feel bad?

Daryl eyed the little girl up and down, half surprised she didn't try to come at him. He inched closer, preparing his crossbow – aiming it the back of the child's head.

Still, it didn't move.

He couldn't make out much of what she looked like, except her hair. That short, dirty blonde hair. The room was too dark for him to make out what she was wearing or where she was bit. _If _she was bit. Daryl couldn't tell. He just assumed she was one of them.

His hand faltered a little on his crossbow. He _couldn't _kill a living child. He had to be sure that she _was_ a walker.

As if she heard Daryl's thoughts, the little girl turned around. Looked Daryl dead in the eyes.

He lowered his crossbow, staring at the child in disbelief;

Sophia stared back at him solemnly. She was wearing the same clothes she died in, except, there was no bite, no blood. Her eyes were not foggy and lifeless, they were deep brown. The same color they were when she was alive.

Daryl was frozen in place. He just stood there, staring at her, his crossbow still aim at her head.

Sophia stared back at him, giving him the saddest look.

Minutes passed, neither of them had moved, until Sophia took a step towards Daryl.

"Save me," she whispered, in such a mousy, hushed tone that Daryl thought he might have imagined it.

And then she turned to the bed on the left. She fell to her knees and began crawling towards the bed in such a machine-like manner; it looked, to Daryl, like she was being moved by invisible strings.

She crawled underneath the bed and out of sight.

Still, Daryl didn't move. He was too busy processing all of this. Replaying her words in his mind:

"_Save me."_


End file.
